


Clair de Lune

by OpusEye



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Draco is in deep denial, F/M, Luna is just a cutie, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Short Chapters, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24443980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpusEye/pseuds/OpusEye
Summary: What happens when two unlikely people happen to be each other's soulmates? According to Draco Malfoy, absolutely nothing should happen. Years of being taught his father's pureblood values and his mother's own old scandal leave him in a state of constant fear of not finding the right 'one'. But, when your soulmate is Luna Lovegood, you cannot escape the destiny laid out to you by fate.This follows the story of Draco and Luna coming to terms with their bond throughout their years at Hogwarts.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 15
Kudos: 65





	1. Narcissa

A strange quality of childhood memories was that some of the most inconsequential things that happened to us as children we remembered the clearest.

Draco often recalled eating strawberry pudding by himself in the library. He remembered it’s tart sweetness and the dimness of the lamp. Or, he’d remember a night where he couldn’t sleep due to the chattering voices of his ancestors’ portraits in the hallway. He remembered old Mafalda Malfoy screeched at her deceased husband across the hall, accusing him of not doing her justice in the portrait once she passed. But, one memory always cut clearer than the rest.

“ What’s this, mummy?”, he once asked his mum.

It was a warm, balmy summer evening. Twilight painted the skies in violets and pinks and the air smelled of fragrant gardenias and poppies. Narcissa and Draco were swinging on a swing in their garden, enjoying the summer air before it was swept away by autumn.

He pointed at his forearm in confusion, staring at the dragon enveloping a crescent moon. The mark was colorful, full of vivid reds and silvers and greens. It looked as if someone took a paintbrush to Draco’s skin.

Narcissa gently stroked her son’s blond head. “It’s called a soulmark, dear. Everybody has one. ”

Draco’s brows furrowed. “ Do you? ”

Narcissa’s eyes clouded over in pain briefly. She looked as if Draco stabbed her.

But, oddly enough, her expression soon returned to normal within a second.“ Of course I do, ” she answered softly.

Draco wouldn’t budge. Curiosity was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. " Show me. "

Narcissa sighed but nevertheless lifted the hem of her lacy white dress. The image of a white rose surrounded by thorns was on her skin. The rose was milky white and the thorns were large and vicious. Yet, they surrounded the rose in an almost gentle envelopment, as if they were there for it’s protection. It looked so vivid that Draco could’ve sworn it was a real flower. But, just as soon as she showed it, Narcissa hid it behind her sleeve with a coy expression. “ Don't go around asking Father about the marks, darling. He won’t be very happy,” she said with restraint coloring her tone.

“Are they bad? ” Draco asked in puzzlement. “The marks? ”.

Narcissa gazed into his pale eyes with her own, her expression somber and full of sorrow.

She stroked his hair again. “The marks aren’t bad. But… what they represent…You see, someone else has a mark just like yours and they’re considered to be your soulmate. Somebody who completes you. Somebody who makes you happier than anybody else in the world. But, sometimes that person just isn’t right, ” Narcissa said softly, gently — like the caressing of the wind.

“Why are they not right? ”, Draco asked.

“ Well…, ” she struggled for words. Her eyes wandered around the garden, stopping at the blushing, blooming roses. “ Your soulmate can be a muggle or… or a blood traitor. We can’t be with people like that, Draco, you know that. ”

Draco nodded. The importance of blood purity has been drilled into him by Father since he was a baby. He was told blood traitors were bad since they betrayed the very principles of their birth. He was also told that muggleborns were even worse for their blatant disobedience of the station which they were born into. The words _sanctimonia vincet semper_ were burned into the back of his brain. Purity will always conquer.

Draco was a special boy, he knew. His blood purity and his family meant that he was destined to rule. He was destined to uphold the glory of his illustrious house. He frowned as he looked down at the mark and covered it like his mother had done earlier.

From then on, Draco rarely asked about the marks, in fear of upsetting Father. But, nonetheless, it didn’t prevent him from learning about them as he grew. The girls, especially the likes of Pansy Parkinson, despaired to know if he had a soulmark similar to theirs. They claimed that soul marks guaranteed the truest of loves. Draco didn’t listen. After all, his parents didn’t share marks. What importance did they have?

Draco grew to despise everything the marks represented. Especially after learning that his mother shared a mark with a measly muggle that two pure blood ladies whispered about during his ninth birthday party. The idea of it left Draco disgusted. How could his mother hide the fact that she shared such an atrocious bond with a mudblood? How could she, everything that Draco considered to be pure in this world, be tainted by something as vile as a mudblood? Anger and hatred simmered inside him, fueled only by the fire that his father encouraged within him.

They never spoke of Narcissa’s unfortunate soulbond to a mudblood but from then on, Draco noticed the cold stares that Lucius would throw towards her forearm. It only made him hide his own mark more viciously, perpetually afraid that the person that bore the same mark was a taint he could never erase. By the time that he was eleven and ready to depart to Hogwarts, he developed a deep hatred for discussing soulbonds and a deep aversion to showing his soulmark. Girls in his circle giggled for hours at the idea of meeting more boys that could share their marks. Their excitement was vile to him and he forbade his friends to engage him in such banter. He swore to them that he’d lose all his respect for them if they pursued the nitwitted notion of finding their soulmates. So, oaths were made and hearts were crossed as the summer of their eleventh year turned to autumn. When the first leaves began to fall, Draco packed as many long-sleeved shirts in his trunk as he could. With an awkward wave at his stony father and a contemptuous glare at his crying mother, Draco climbed on the Hogwarts Express of platform 9 ¾, determined _to not find his soulmate_.


	2. Xenophilius

Luna’s father had his soulmark with her mother painted and framed above the mantelpiece a year after her death.

Xenophilius Lovegood was a believer in many things — nargles, Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and wrackspurts. But, above all, he was a believer in soulmates.

Luna heard the story of how her parents met countless times. Many of those times, the story was told by her mother, the deceased Pandora Lovegood, who died just two years before Luna made her journey to Hogwarts. Since Pandora’s death, Xenophilius’ grief manifested itself in episodes of nostalgia and remembrance. He’d sit by the fireplace, somberly looking at the painting of a blue eye within a golden triangle — the soulmark that Luna’s parents shared.

"She had the most wonderful hair, poppet, " Xenophilius reflected. His eyes wandered to Luna, who was toying around with issues of The Quibbler and repurposing them to make birds that would take flight at her command. "Hair just like yours. I was just coming back from a quidditch game when I heard a shout above me, from the Slytherin stands. She was there, in her full glory, grinning down at me like a cat. ‘You don’t happen to be the lad with the triangle eye, do you?’, she asked me. ‘Because if you are, then that means that I must have you’ ".

"That’s really funny, daddy, " Luna giggled. " Mummy always said you looked confuffled."

She burst out into a series of giggles, still as engrossed with her task of folding up birds as ever.

Xenophilius grinned. "I think you mean confuddled, poppet. "

Luna raised her eyes at him. "Confuffled, daddy. I said confuffled. "

Xenophilius smiles even wider, pinching Luna’s cheeks. "Of course, dear. Say it as you want. "

He briefly got up and made his way to the kitchen. Afternoon light filtered in through the open windows and a breeze flew into the house, caressing the windchimes that Pandora set up years earlier. The smell of bitter tea and scones permeated through their cluttered household and left Luna anticipating and hungry.

"Daddy, " Luna wondered, after making one of her paper birds fly in the air. "What if I don’t like my soulmate? What if they’re mean to me? ".

Xenophilius came into the room carrying a tray of warm scones, clotted cream, jam and hot tea. He dropped the heavy tray with a clutter on a stack of books crowding the circular, wooden table of their living room. Then, with a sigh, he dropped to his haunches, looking at Luna eye-to-eye.

Many said that Xenophilius and Luna were very similar in their face and features. But, with his shock of yellowy blonde hair and bright blue eyes, he didn’t quite resemble Luna’s silvery coloring — in both hair and eyes.

"If they’re mean to you, poppet, that just means that they can’t accept the bond you share. It happens and it’s sad. But, you must never despair, " he said as he got up, bopping Luna’s nose in the process. " Souls always find a way to be together. In spirit, in body, in mind. They might not be with you but they’re always here." Xenophilius pointed at his head. " And here, " he said as he pointed at his heart.

"Like mummy, " Luna said with a dazed look.  
Her father laughed. "Very much like mummy, poppet. Now, go on, have some tea. It’s gonna get cold soon. "  
Luna obliged cheerfully, awkwardly mixing in the tea with the sugar. Her nimble fingers attempted to spread the clotted cream and jam over scones. 

Xenophilius gave her a fond look before he moved away from her, closer to the framed picture of his deceased wife on the mantelpiece. A slim, silvery haired woman stared at Xenophilius through the picture, swinging back and forth. She smiled slightly, knowingly, as if she knew his worst secrets.

" I hope Luna will find someone who will complete her as much as you did me, love " he whispered softly.

His fingers caressed Pandora’s face and a tear slid out of his eye.


	3. Looney Luna

While Draco’s first year was eventful, at least it was not eventful in the way that he feared it would be.

A handful of Hogwarts students found their soulmates at their arrival but Draco was thankful that he was not among that handful. Him and his peers jeered at the likes of Theodore Nott and Daphne Greengrass, who all but devoured each other with their gazes across the Slytherin dining hall table. There was also Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, Gryffindor boys who were about as obnoxious about their soulbond as they were with everything else.

But, Draco was left untouched by the absolute plague of the soulbonding and spent his summer at Malfoy Manor in relative peace. Well, as relative as peace could with all the grueling training he put into his quidditch skills to make it into the team. He even got his father to agree to buy the entire team Nimbus 2000s if he got in. 

Of course, his mother tried to make him spend time with her attending all sorts of boring functions that highborn purebloods were forced to attend. But, he was becoming old enough to know when to spurn her attentions and frankly, didn’t have the time to go about the functions as if he didn’t want to die by the end of them.

“Draco, darling, ” she would beckon him in that pitiful voice of hers. “ Why don’t you have some tea with me? Dobby made some ginger snaps. I know you like them. ”

Draco screwed his nose and turned away from her. “ I’d really rather not, mother. ”

Then, Narcissa would turn away and sigh, her shoulders drooping. Each time Draco rejected his mother’s affection, Lucius would grin appreciatively at his son.

“ You’re becoming a man soon, ” he would say with a smile and a proud voice. “ Finally. ”

So, on the summer went until finally the time to return to Hogwarts arrived. This time, Draco returned with renewed strength and confidence that he wouldn’t be struck by the obnoxiousness of soulbonding. This year would be his, he was sure of that.

He got a cabin at the Hogwarts Express with Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson, stocked up on chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties and Bertie Bott’s flavoured beans. They were talking about Parkinson’s vacation in the south of France when a small, blonde head peeled through the door. 

“ Excuse me, ” the head of what seemed like a girl said. “ But do you happen to have a seat here? I’m afraid the other cabin has much too many nargles for my taste. ”

Draco snorted. “Nargles? What in Merlin are those? ”.

The girl opened the door fully and her small body, carrying a huge purple trunk, was revealed. She had the most curious shade of hair and eyes, nearly identical to Draco’s. But, that was about where their similarities ended. She was wearing a ridiculous pink ruffled dress and a blue sweater with pom-poms attached to it, identifying her as a first year. Moreover, her cape was old and full of holes, despite the fact that it might have looked sophisticated twenty years past. 

“ Nargles, ” the girl said as if it was obvious. “ They’re these creatures. They’re everywhere you know… especially around bad energy. ”

At that, the four Slytherin burst out laughing. The girl sounded ridiculous, absolutely bonkers. More than that, it was her absolute seriousness in spewing her blasphemy that killed Draco.

“Tell you what, Nargle girl,” Pansy said in her nasty, high-pitched voice. “What’s your name? ”.

The girl smiled pleasantly, despite the veneer of poison injected in Pansy’s tone. “ Luna. ”

At that, Draco’s heart gave a little jump. He found himself rubbing his chest and staring at the girl curiously. She seemed unbothered by their laughter and insults, which was a strangely captivating thing to observe. Draco almost couldn’t look away.

“ Luna? ”, Crabbe chortled. “ More like Looney. ”

At that, the rest of the group laughed again — except for Draco. He kept looking at Luna for a reaction. Tears, laughter, an insult back, something. But, she remained serene and calm, like sunshine persisting through the rain.

“ Leave, Looney, ” Goyle said meanly. “ We don’t hang out with first-years. Especially not annoying and crazy ones like you. ”

Luna barely blinked at that, her eyes landing on Draco instead. For an intense, breathless moment, they stared at each other. The world seemed to disappear beneath him before Draco broke out of the spell. 

As soon as he regained consciousness from whatever spell he was under, he closed the door in front of Luna. With a sigh, he sank back into his seat and stared at the door, glad he wasn’t facing the unnerving girl again.

“Looney Luna, ” he sneered. “ Imagine the gall to show up here to talk about nargles. ”

Even as Draco said that, he sensed that something within him shifted. It was as if his equilibrium was moved and he looked at the world differently now. Something told him that things would never be the same after that.


	4. Silver

Dreadfully, the horrible start to Luna’s introduction to Hogwarts didn’t get any better as they approached the castle.

She never once assumed that all Slytherins were mean and all purebloods were snobbish. After all, her own mother was none other than Pandora Rosier, a pureblood Slytherin with a penchant for mischief and a compassionate heart. But, that encounter with the second year Slytherins left her feeling unwelcome and quite dispirited.

She found refuge with a bunch of other first years later, of course. At first, it seemed as if they were getting along and it all seemed fine. Before, inevitably, they became put off by Luna’s fantastical speech and strange habits.

The only highlight of the evening happened to be her sorting into House Ravenclaw — her father’s house. She remembered happily marching down the steps of the grand dining hall to meet her new housemates. Only, in those brief seconds, her eyes met the eyes of that strange silver-haired Slytherin boy from the train. She felt something stir within her at the sight of him and her heart began to pump faster. Luna was transfixed, unable to look away, before she was pulled in for introduction with more Ravenclaw students.  
It was all very strange, this business with the silver-haired boy. Luna found herself wanting to talk to him, be next to him. It was an almost overwhelming urge. But, each time she turned around to catch his eye, he turned away from her and started talking to his Slytherin peers.

Eventually, Luna gave up.

She focused all her attention on gaining the attention and affection of her new housemates but like with those before her, it all ended in them shrinking away from her. Ravenclaws, after all, were a pretty erudite lot. To them, talks of nargles and wrackspurts was nothing but fanciful fantasy.  
But, Luna wouldn’t despair. Her belief was unshakeable and beyond a shadow of a doubt she knew that the right people would find her. And if they didn’t find her, well then Luna would make haste in finding them herself.

She didn’t waste time trying to convince people to like her or understand her. She knew some things were beyond understanding.

And yet…

Yet, she turned around once again as she left the dining hall, searching for a silver head amidst the masses of Hogwarts students.


	5. Yule

_ There’s got to be something wrong with that Potter boy,  _ Draco thought bitterly as he watched Harry stroll into the Yule Ball hall hand-in-hand with Parvati Patil. 

When the Goblet of Fire spit out Potter’s name after Cedric Diggory’s, Draco couldn’t prevent the bitter taste of jealousy from appearing in his mouth. He loathed to admit it, but it was becoming increasingly clear that Harry was  _ special.  _ He was born under the right star, destined to be something that Draco could never be. It pained him, twisted into him like a jagged knife and he wished, with all his heart, he wished that he would be recognized too. 

“ Don’t you want to dance?”, Pansy asked him in a bored voice.

She looked rather prim and proper in her green silk dress and pinned hair. Her eyes were lined with dark and her lips were cherry red, as if she dipped them in blood. But, something in Draco’s heart rebelled at the idea of her beauty. It was foreign to him. Cold.

“ If you want to dance, Parkinson, go up and do so, for Merlin’s sake,” Draco spat out.

Crystal light resembling ice and snow surrounded them. The tables were covered in an abundance of food and the air smelled of spice that was distinctly holiday-like in it’s quality. Pairs twirled around the ballroom, a ruffle of silks contrasting against the harsh cuts of the boys’ suits and waistcoats.

“ You’re so very mean, Draco,” Pansy said suddenly, her voice turning sorrowful. “ When you asked me to the dance, I thought it meant…Never mind what it meant. But you really ought to at least dance with me.”

Draco sighed.

An image of his mother, standing serenely on the side as he played with his peers suddenly struck him. There was something about Pansy’s sorrow that reminded him very much of his mother. 

He sneaked a glance at her forearm. Pansy’s soulmark was very strange indeed —- it was a jewel and a candy, both sparkling as if they were truly crystals on her porcelain skin. It was deliberate, he knew. Most girls had their soulmarks exposed today. While it was usually improper to go around showing people your marks, the Yule Ball was a perfect opportunity for them to see if any of the Durmstrang boys shared a bond with them.

Draco thought it most bothersome and largely ignored the stares of the Slytherin girls who were practically shoving their forearms in his face to see if he recognized his own. He would rather die than have one of them be his soulmate.

“ Dance with me then,” Draco said coolly, taking Pansy’s cold and pale hand.

She smirked slightly and followed his lead. They lost themselves in a dizzying waltz that left many other students breathless. Pansy and Draco, however, were masters of dance, from many evenings spent at functions where one had to move as smoothly as sinew under strain. They moved smoothly, fluidly, very much like the element that many Slytherin adopted and mastered — water.

But, at some point, Pansy had to excuse herself from the dance floor to the lady’s room and Draco was led to wander off to the stand with pumpkin juice and various pasties decorated with snowflake-like crystals.

He was about to reach for the ladle of the juice bowl when a body collided into him from behind. Draco leaned forward and would’ve hit the table if he hadn’t found his balance.

“ Oh dear,” a soft voice said from behind him. “ I’m so very sorry. I hope you are well. I am perfectly clumsy you see. I was not looking! Oh poor Neville! To have a dance partner like me…”

The girl’s words trailed off when Draco turned around, revealing his angry face. He could spot Chester Davies — another Ravenclaw — behind her, nervously chewing his lip, probably thinking that he was about to yell the girl’s ear off. 

Because, it was none other than Looney Lovegood that had knocked into him. She was wearing a ridiculous purple atrocity, puffed sleeves and puffy skirts and all, looking like an exploding plum. 

“ Looney,” Draco drew out. “ Aren’t third years supposed to be in their little dorm rooms? What are you doing here?”.

He didn’t know why he was curious. But, the sight of her surrounded by falling snow and crystals was startling to say the least. She had a distinct kind of look about her. Her silvery coils and pale gray eyes fit just right in with the snowy setting. He felt as if he had swallowed fire just looking at her, smiling oddly like some kind of mischievous fairy.

“ Oh! Chester invited me,” she chirped. “ He is so very kind.”

At that, she dragged Davies closer, who wore what looked like the world’s most ugliest cloak. It looked as if it belonged on a squib from the mid century, not on a boy about to attend a ball with a girl like…

_ A girl like what? _ , Draco stopped himself.

Luna Lovegood fit right in with him. The two fools deserved each other.

“ What a fitting pair,” Draco sneered. “ The blubbering fool and the lunatic. What a surprise.”

Luna’s brows furrowed and Draco had a sudden urge to wipe the expression away. He felt as if he was being scrutinized, not vice versa. It made his skin itch and his throat burn.

“ You are not being very nice,” she muttered. “ I think Chester is wonderful.”

Draco noticed that she didn’t refute the claim of her being a lunatic. Perhaps, she was used to it. That somehow made Draco angry and he found himself in a need to punch every person who ever called her a lunatic, including himself.

_ What was going on? _

“ You think everyone is wonderful,” Draco bit back.

Luna glanced up at him and a glazed look appeared in her eyes. They were so luminous, so bright, why —

“ I’m sorry, Draco,” Chester jumped in, looking awfully scared. He was probably aware of Draco’s tempestuous reputation. “ Luna and I just wanted to fetch some juice so if you don’t mind I’ll…”.

Davies maneuvered around him and Luna followed. Draco dropped his eyes to the floor, feeling a bit out of sorts. His eyes traced the sleeve of Luna’s purple dress and they fixated momentary on her arm —

Merlin.

No.

The world seemed to come to a halt before Draco as he traced the familiar outline on Luna’s skin. The vivid red of the fire, the silvery crescent, the emerald scales of the dragon. He could recognize that mark in his sleep. He recognized it because he spent hours agonizing over it in bed, thinking of the person who might share it with him. Except, it had never come to his mind that Luna would be the one. He never thought she was his soulmate.

Without thinking about it, he seized her arm. He brought it to his face and closely analyzed the pattern of the mark.

Luna gasped slightly and turned around. 

Panic settled in Draco’s chest when he realized that it was  _ his  _ mark. It was so strange, to share something as intimate as his marks with another human being. Had she looked at the mark in puzzlement, like he did? Did she find the dragon as beautiful as he did? Did she think the crescent to be more luminous than the one in the sky?

Draco was tempted to ask those questions. But, he couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t.

He thought of his mother’s sad face when she looked at her mark. He thought of his father’s disdainful looks. He remembered the jeers and the insults thrown at those who threw away their pureblood principles for their soulmates. 

Draco wouldn’t be one of them. He was special. He was destined to go on a path of greatness. If it meant that Luna would never be by his side, then so be it.

“ Remember to watch your step, next time, Looney,” he growled. “ And don’t ever show your stupid face in front of me again.”

With those words, Draco strode away in a determined pace and fled the ballroom.


End file.
